1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imaging device and a control method for an imaging device, and in more detail relates to an imaging device having a movie shooting function, such as a digital camera, video camera, or mobile phone with camera, and a control method for such an imaging device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, if it was said that a picture was taken by an amateur, it was generally assumed to be a printed still photograph. However, in recent years it has become possible to more easily take even movies obtained by continuously shooting still images, by changing from a film camera to an imaging device such as a digital camera having an image sensor and a memory. With movie shooting it is possible to record interesting and expressive pose changes that would have been difficult with still picture shooting, and this movie shooting is used in recording children growing up, changes in scenery at a travel destination etc.
However, differing from still pictures that only capture a scene in a split second, movies are for recording movement, and since a shot movie will be dull and uninteresting unless the time from start to the end of movement is appropriately chosen, a lot of stress is placed on the photographer. There are therefore a lot of photographers who are reluctant to shoot movies. For example, in the case asking a person who is nearby to take a photograph, although it is easy to ask them to simply press the shutter button, as it is a still picture, if it is a movie it is quite understandable that the person who has been asked to take the picture will not know when is the best time to take the picture. From the viewpoint of shooting timing, Japanese patent laid-open No. 2007-329602 (laid-open Dec. 20, 2007) discloses an imaging device that, at the time of taking a group photo or the like, can perform shooting once a specified number of faces has been reached.